Summer wildfire seasons in California routinely break records. The average summer burn area in forests in northern and central portions of the state have increased five times higher between 1996 and 2021 than between 1971 and 1995. Although the drivers of increased temperature and dryness are known, the contribution of human-caused climate change to wildfire activity, relative to natural climate variation, is unclear. FILE PHOTO: A satellite image shows a color infrared closer view of fire lines during Hermits Peak wildfire, east of Santa Fe, New Mexico, U.S., May 1, 2022. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS However, a new study by a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientist and collaborators shows that nearly all the recent increase in summe...
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Earth’s supply of water is incredibly important for its ability to sustain life, but where did that water come from? Was it present when Earth formed or was it delivered later by meteorites or comets from outer space? The source of Earth’s water has been a longstanding debate and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists think they have the answer—and they found it by looking at rocks from the moon. Evidence from the analysis of lunar samples suggest that although the Earth and moon formed from a giant impact, they mostly retained their primordial abundances of volatile elements including water. Image by Adam Connell/LLNL. Since the Earth-moon system formed together from the impact of two large bodies very early in solar system history, their histories are very muc...
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